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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24754792">It's all Fun and Games Till the Cops Show up</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arthur0098/pseuds/Arthur0098'>Arthur0098</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek: Voyager, Steven Universe (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:47:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,371</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24754792</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arthur0098/pseuds/Arthur0098</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>While skirting the edge of an ancient empire's border, the Federation Starship Voyager picks up strange radio signals from a small blue planet. Their investigation soon has them embroiled once again in interplanetary politics not their own. Just another day in the Delta Quadrant.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It's all Fun and Games Till the Cops Show up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Captain’s log. Due to the hostilities taking place along our previous course, we were forced to make a detour around the disputed region. This brought us through a region of space not normally visited by the local species. They’re pointing us at a few old beacons belonging to an entity known as the Diamond Authority that used to operate in this area. All we know about them is that they consist of a species known as Gems, and they are, or were, technologically equivalent to or more advanced than the Federation. They were also prone to aggression and expansionist phases, and were described as being oppressive or totalitarian. They have not been seen for centuries, but the beacons insist that they not be disturbed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Captain Katheryn Janeway, commanding the Federation starship </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>, paused to take a sip of coffee, and sighed, “We appear to be between a rock and a hard place. We have fought off two attacks already from the factions along our current route, each one expressing interest in our technology. Our hails into Diamond territory have gone unanswered, and no one is certain their empire even exists anymore. Our best option appears to be to go through the Diamond Authority’s territory and request forgiveness later. They likely will not take too kindly to our wandering through their territory if any of them still exist.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She grimaced, “They have not been spotted in years, and local authorities have speculated the empire has collapsed, suffered some kind of internal dispute, or simply closed their borders and failed to maintain their outposts. I somewhat hope the Diamond Authority has collapsed, and that we will be able to avoid confrontation of any kind.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway paused the log for the moment. She glanced out the ready room window, at the stretched field of stars.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She wondered what kind of people the Gems were. They hadn’t been able to get many records, even what they looked like. All that existed were conflicting stories and worn-out sensor logs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were aggressive, that was one detail that hit her, of course. They were imperialists. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span> was a powerful ship, but she was only one ship. A ship not meant for heavy combat. Not the kind of warship an imperialist state would create entire fleets of.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway turned back to her computer, “Computer, resume log. As important as First Contact, and scientific curiosity are, even my own has to be curbed sometimes. I’ve ordered the ship to warp seven until we are through Diamond Authority Territory. We have been avoiding some tantalizing sensor readings in this effort.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She scratched her chin, and paused the log again. She shifted tabs on her laptop, and examined several reports on the surrounding space.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Resuming the log again, she commented, “The chances of an internal dispute or collapse seems much more likely than an aggressive nation such as this simply abandoning their border outposts. It doesn’t match a simple matter of internal reform. Surely they would have known about the potentially ambitious, or resentful nations around them. I suppose it’s possible they may have been arrogant, or developed a pacifist culture. However, that does not explain the lack of signals we’ve been getting from their space.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She checked long-range visual and sensor scans. “Astrometric and astronomical surveys have found numerous colonies and outposts in several star systems in this area. All appear to be abandoned. There are significant mining operations, and some of the outposts are depleted, but many are not. They are simply abandoned. Our astronomy department believes collapse or internal dispute extremely likely. An imperialist nation, even a reformed one, would not abandon their resources lightly. They have also reported some unusual communication signals, but we have been unable to pick up anything clear. We are proceeding with intrigued caution.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Janeway sipped her coffee again, and hit a few controls, completing the log entry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The astronomy department had existed before the astrometrics lab. They’d been the ones keeping them on course for home until Seven of Nine boarded. After they’d built the astrometrics lab, the department had been subordinate to her expertise much of the time. They were not extremely resentful, but having a mystery on their hands always helped to keep their morale up.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>After some time spent doing paperwork, her combadge chirped. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Seven of Nine to Captain Janeway. I request your presence and Commander Chakotay’s in astrometrics as soon as possible.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At least she’d learned how to make requests…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway hit her badge, “Janeway to Seven. Is there an emergency?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>It is an anomaly that you may wish to be aware of.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you give me some details?” Janeway asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Stand by.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A burst of scratchy music came from her combadge, classical music of some kind. She remembered it from their visit to the late 1990s years earlier.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The music cut off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Seven, would you care to explain that?” Janeway said in a deadpan voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Sensors picked up several signals like it originating from an M-class planet in our immediate vicinity. All match early Terran 21st century-style electronic signals, and contain numerous similarities, though not total matches for data of the period.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m on my way.” Janeway said, stepping out of her ready room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tuvok, you have the conn.” she said as she passed through the bridge, and tapped her combadge to summon Chakotay off his down time.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>XXXXX</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p><span>Several days later,</span> <em><span>Voyager's</span></em><span> Emergency Medical Hologram, known as The Doctor, was busy filling out paperwork. Not quite in paper form, but the sort of bookkeeping even a highly-advanced AI would find boring.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then the PA came on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yellow alert. All hands set condition three. Repeat, yellow alert, all hands set condition three.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Doctor immediately got to his feet, anticipating casualties.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Even when I have the run of the ship they still forget to tell me what’s going on…</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought, stowing several experiments. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The one patient in the sick bay, a crewman who’d come in with an earache, had already leapt off their bed, “Am I good to go, doc? I wanna get to my station.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, yes. Inform any medical staff you see on the way to hurry. I don’t know what kind of casualties we’re anticipating.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure thing.” the patient replied, and moved out the door, still tugging at their ear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Doctor continued scanning through the bay and sorting the gear. He needed to be sure there were enough stockpiled supplies.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He ran through the checklist; painkillers, antibacterials, surgical equipment, blood products.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As he did so, Commander Chakotay, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> first officer, sent him a quick message to anticipate casualties.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What exactly is going on? Are we going to be under attack?” the Doc asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>We’ve picked up unidentified ships on long-range sensors. We can’t get a specific reading on their systems, but we’re anticipating high-powered directed energy weapons and torpedoes.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Burns and trauma, then.” the Doctor said, nodding, “Wait a minute, who’s--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Sorry doc, I’ll explain later.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” The comm link switched off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Doctor grimaced, and went back to his tasks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He knew they were in alien space, that they had the potential to fall under attack, and he was quite curious as to what kind of aliens these Gems were. But that was all he knew.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just another day in the Delta Quadrant…” he muttered.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>XXXXX</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“We have three unknown vessels approaching. I don’t think they can catch up with us. They’re burning out their engines trying to.” Ensign Kim, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> operations officer reported.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dedicated pilots, I’ll give em that.” the conn officer, Lieutenant Paris, muttered, “They could blow themselves up doing that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We could raise speed to warp nine,” Chakotay said, glancing at Janeway, “It’ll burn a lot of fuel, but at least we’ll be out of their space.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And if these ships destroy themselves pursuing us, they could use this as a justification to attack us.” Janeway commented, “Our luck has never been good in this area, has it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I do not believe in luck, but considering our previous performance, the probability of such an occurrence is high.” commented Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> tactical officer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mr. Paris, drop to warp four. Open hailing frequencies and let’s see if we can talk to them.” Janeway ordered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Paris acknowledged the command. There was no visual indicator that they had slowed, only a hint in the deck that experienced spacers would detect.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kim hit a few controls, and Janeway stood up, "this is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship</span>
  <em>
    <span> Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>. We have no hostile intentions in your territory, we wish only safe passage."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They haven’t answered hails yet.” Kim reported after a moment, “Their engines are still running hot."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway gestured to him, and added, "we were unable to contact your government at the border and we were forced to enter your space on our own. We apologize for any problems this may have caused, and we are willing to negotiate. Please respond."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another few moments went by with no response.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I don't think they want to talk." Chakotay commented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Their weapons do not appear able to fire at warp,” Tuvok reported, “That may be the only reason they haven’t fired on us.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway thought for a moment. They needed to know what human signals were doing out in the Delta Quadrant this time, but she didn't like the idea of just barging in unannounced. They had no idea what politics were like around here.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She gestured to Kim again, "we're willing to drop to impulse if you do the same, so we can sort this all out.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>They were about to give up when a signal came through, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Drop to impulse.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway frowned. Was that a request, agreement, or…?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They’re dropping to impulse.” Kim reported.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Red alert. Drop to impulse and come about. Keep us out of phaser range. I don’t want to waste torpedoes, but the ship is more important.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The deck slanted as the ship made a hard turn, the inertial dampers keeping them from being squashed into jelly. The lights dimmed as the ship went to red alert status.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“All decks report ready.” Kim said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Long range sensors picked up a visual of the other ships, putting a tactical map on the viewscreen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The graceful marine-like silver shape of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span> stood in sharp contrast with the foreign vessels. Her warp nacelles unfolded on either side of her semicircular cross-section secondary hull, the glowing-blue deflector array on the secondary hull bow powering down. Her trowel-shaped primary hull glistened in the light from a distant sun, connected to the secondary hull like the head of the Egyptian sphinx.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her silhouette was unmarked by any sharp angles, save for the nacelles and the shuttle bay on the stern.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Along either side of the secondary hull ran a long red streak, from the nacelles to just behind the deflector, ending in a Starfleet insignia with its top pointed in the direction of the ship’s bow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>From a distance, her hull looked unmarked, but close up windows could be seen, as well as airlocks, reaction control thrusters, escape pod hatches, sensor arrays, transporter and tractor beam emitters. There were strips of phaser arrays on the dorsal and ventral sides. A pair of torpedo launchers were above the deflector dish, just under the connection to the primary hull. Two more faced astern, mounted to the “neck” of the starship connecting the two hulls. Each shifted subtly, as torpedoes were loaded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On the primary hull’s bow, nestled between the ventral forward phaser arrays was an orange upper sensor array, just above her auxiliary navigational deflector.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Above the sensor array was written “</span>
  <em>
    <span>USS </span>
  </em>
  <span>Voyager</span>
  <em>
    <span> NCC-74656</span>
  </em>
  <span>”, just ahead of the windows of the ship’s mess hall. Blast doors and force fields sealed over the observation ports, like they did all over the ship, as </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span> prepared for the worst. The bridge was located above the mess hall, and had no windows to begin with, only an armored shell. Visuals were provided by sensor arrays and external cameras.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The vessels facing her were smooth, but were clearly of a different school of ship design.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>’s crew was taken aback, with numerous glances at each other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Two were surreal in design. They looked like giant humanoid hands in space. One was green, the other blue, both anatomically correct down to the knuckles. They almost reached the uncanny valley.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Captain Janeway wondered if this was what James Kirk’s reports of a giant green space hand had been like in person. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were pointing with their index fingers at the Starfleet vessel, as if her graceful organic shape was an affront to their own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The lead ship was more conventional, but still lacked the grace and beauty of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It was a giant green octahedron, with four claw-like prongs extending from all four sides, and a small screen on the upper hull, presumably the bridge.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re being hailed,” Kim reported.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Put them through,” Janeway ordered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The viewscreen snapped from sensors to a bright display, bright enough to make the crew squint.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A light-green being with large spiky green hair appeared in the center of the display. She wore an odd uniform, with two yellow diamonds stacked on top of each other over her chest, a pair of large hexagonal shoulder pads, and a light-colored collar. Covering where her hairline and eyebrows would be on a human was a green-yellow tiara-like bar that vaguely resembled a unibrow. When she opened her mouth, fangs were revealed, and a mouth that was tinted similarly to the rest of her body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Conspicuously, over her right eye was a green emerald gem.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I am Emerald, Facet 9 Cut 4A, of the Diamond Authority. You are trespassing in Gem space. Identify yourself immediately!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” the being ordered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway replied calmly, “I’m Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>. We have no hostile intentions in your territory, we wish only safe passage through your space.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>If you meant no hostile intentions, why didn’t you make the request at our border?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We tried, but we couldn’t find any authorities to speak with.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The other being scoffed, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Impossible, those border outposts are constantly staffed.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” Janeway said carefully, “We not only checked ourselves, we’ve spoken to authorities outside your territory, and their sensor records indicate your border outposts have been abandoned for years.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The being, Emerald, looked offscreen, then grimaced, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>It seems you’re correct...well, you’ve encountered us now. What is your business in our space?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We wish only to pass through safely. We’re not from this area of space. We’re just trying to make it home. It’s some distance from here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The being nodded, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Where is your home? How do we not have records of your ship?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m afraid that’s our business.” Janeway said cooly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re in our space. Everything is our business here. What authority do you obey?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re a Starfleet vessel, the deep space exploratory and defense service of the United Federation of Planets.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Federation? There’s no such organization.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As I said, it’s some distance from here.” that was just about as detailed as Janeway was willing to get.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emerald made a frown that seemed very likely to turn into a scowl. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Where did you get your ship?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway exchanged a look with Chakotay, “This is a Federation starship.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Who built it?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A Federation shipyard.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emerald glanced offscreen, then center again, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>How do you explain the organic infestation aboard your vessel?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Organic infestation…?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>We can only detect your life signs. Could you explain that?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Emerald smirked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were missing some serious context here.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...I'm sorry?” Janeway asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>Emerald gestured at the bridge, “</span><em><span>All of those...things.</span></em> <em><span>How do you explain them?</span></em><span>”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway shot to her feet. Her gaze narrowed, not quite hostile, but one the crew recognized as the calm before the storm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know what you’re insinuating,” She pointed at the rest of the bridge, “but these </span>
  <em>
    <span>people</span>
  </em>
  <span> are my crew. I don’t know what you’re insinuating, but there is no ‘infestation’ here. This ship is crewed by carbon-based life forms.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emerald snorted, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You must be joking. Are you implying there’s a distinction?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway’s gaze did not shift, “I am </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> joking, Captain. I’m an organic myself. I believe the life signs you’re detecting are from our doctor. We have no interest in your politics, we only want to pass through your space undisturbed. We mean you no harm, but we will defend ourselves if necessary.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re</span>
  <em>
    <span> an organic?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Emerald gasped.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They’re powering weapons!” Kim reported.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Target their weapons and engines, but do not fire unless fired upon.” Janeway ordered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What do you know of the </span>
  </em>
  <span>Sun Incinerator</span>
  <em>
    <span>?!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Emerald snarled, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re in league with the Off Colors, aren’t you?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway shook her head, "We are not. Captain, I assure you I have no idea who you're talking about."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Surrender immediately and turn that ship over to us! That is Gem Authority property you’ve stolen!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“In case you haven’t noticed, our ship looks nothing like yours. It doesn't belong to you. This is a Federation starship, and we will defend ourselves.” Chakotay said, standing up himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Bah, organics! Get into energy range! Fire missiles!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The viewscreen returned to the tactical display and the senior officers returned to their seats.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Target her escorts with torpedoes.” Janeway said, “Stand by phasers, lock onto her weapons and engines. Mr. Paris, stand by warp one, heading 320 mark 346. Disengage after exactly .25 seconds.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Paris nodded, smiling as he recognized the plan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Firing torpedoes.” Tuvok sounded out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Standing outside phaser range, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager </span>
  </em>
  <span>fired a pair of torpedoes, each one evading the enemy’s point defense fire and hammering the hand-ships.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mr. Paris, engage.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>The ship stretched in space for a moment, her nacelles glowing. She seemed to stretch behind and below the enemy formation. Like a snapped rubber band, the strand of light between the two locations broke, leaving </span><em><span>Voyager</span></em><span> behind and below the Gems...as well as right where they started. According to the Gem sensors, for a brief moment there appeared to be </span><em><span>two</span></em> <em><span>Voyagers</span></em><span>! </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And the one behind them was within phaser range.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come about, put our bow to her stern!” Janeway barked, “Open fire.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fire aft torpedo tubes,” Chakotay ordered, “target her engines. Phasers fire when ready.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The enemy missiles streaked toward the first </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>, their sensor readings still registering a ship there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Picard maneuver worked like a charm. The real </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span> fired her aft torpedoes, hitting the enemy impulse engines, and twirled around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now in phaser range, her aft phaser banks fired until she faced forward. The four main phaser arrays burned the enemy’s four armament claws as they turned to try and engage the new contact directly behind them. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span> fired again, cutting into their missile launch systems. Internal explosions rippled along the hull from those compartments.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fire forward torpedoes!” Chakotay ordered again, “Target the escorts again!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still reeling from the first blow, the escorts were in the midst of turning when two more photon torpedoes apiece smashed into their engine compartments.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The flagship’s weapon systems have been disabled,” Kim said, “The escorts still have weapon systems, but their engines have been disabled.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Put us on our previous course and engage warp five.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager's</span>
  </em>
  <span> nacelles folded, glowing bright, then stretched off into space and disappeared.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Stand down to Yellow Alert and keep scanning for more of their ships." Chakotay ordered, then turned to Janeway, and asked in a low voice, “Are we going to head for the border, or are we still planning on investigating those radio signals?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They’re human signals, commander.” Janeway pointed out, “The least we can do is make a few scans.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chakotay nodded, “I was just making sure we were on the same page.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>XXXXX</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The system was certainly familiar. Eight planets, four gas giants, numerous dwarf planets, an asteroid belt, and a blue-green M-class world.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re detecting a number of primitive space probes. I’m modulating our shields, they won’t be able to see us.” Kim said, hitting several controls. He looked around the bridge, “They’re using forms of 21st century language. Long range scanners look a lot like the ones we picked up in 1996. Minimal crewed spaceflight, planetary information network...it looks just like Earth back then.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It must be Hodgkin’s law,” Chakotay said, “Or maybe alien influence.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would lean toward the latter,” Tuvok said, “I am detecting numerous subspace signatures around the system, and other readings consistent with known Diamond Authority technology. Several mining operations, observation posts, relay sites... all inactive.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The moon-- the third planet’s moon has a large facility on it.” Kim corrected himself, noting the differences in continent shape on the third planet, “It looks like some sort of administrative building.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Make a note of it,” Janeway said, nodding, “We’ll send an away team. Are we sure we’re picking up a human civilization?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It looks like it. Not much of it matches our records. It’s like everything’s a slight variation..” As Kim spoke he raised an eyebrow at one of the television broadcasts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Is that...breakfast food?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...but it definitely </span>
  <em>
    <span>looks </span>
  </em>
  <span>like Terran stuff. Those...sitcoms Neelix found, cartoons, military transmissions, news broadcasts, radar...the works.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway crossed her arms, studying the planet in the distance on the viewscreen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It gave many of the crew born on Earth such a heartache, herself included. But there was something off about it. There were extra islands here or there, lakes and oceans where there shouldn’t be, some continents with different sizes…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She maintained her composure, “I want two shuttle missions prepared. They’re to investigate the other outposts around the solar system, and look for any dilithium deposits. Commander Chakotay, if this solar system is remotely like ours, have them check where the first mines were made back home. Mr. Paris, take us close to…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hesitated for a moment, "...</span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> Earth, but keep just beyond lunar orbit. We don’t know what kind of subspace technology they might have access to. We’ll beam a third away team to investigate that administrative building. Maybe we can figure out what’s going on."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She got to her feet, and turned to the crew, "we've got a lot to do and I doubt the Diamond Authority is far behind. Let's get to it."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>XXXXX</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>A team assembled in </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> transporter room one. Clad in a standard white Starfleet EV suit, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> chief engineer, stepped up onto one of the pads. She checked the seals on her suit. No breathable atmosphere was detected in the administration building.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...all I’m saying is, should we really be bringing along the chief engineer?” said a woman in a red-shouldered hazard suit, checking her weapon nearby, “No offense, B'Elanna, but isn’t this sorta...our job?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She gestured to the other three crewmembers also dressed in hazard suits. Unlike standard EV suits, these were more like power armor, designed for combat and hazardous environments. Their colors matched that of command uniforms, with the addition of helmets, webbing for equipment, and armored. It wasn’t Federation Marine power armor, but with their limited resources, it was as good as it could get. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were all members of the Hazard Team, an offensive security team designed by Tuvok to respond to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>unique situation, for use in extreme situations and high-risk environments.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Normally a security team would’ve been assigned for this unique situation, but the captain had felt it necessary to take all precautions.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lieutenant Munro, second-in-command of the Hazard Team, shook her head, “Jarvis, I wouldn’t say that too loud…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you might end up like I did…” a Bolian crewman standing nearby muttered. Crewman Chell eyed B'Elanna warily. He’d known her from the Maquis ship before they were thrown into the Delta Quadrant, and knew to watch what he said around her. Even if he was someone she didn’t hate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I might do something if you keep talking, crewman,” B'Elanna said, looking at Crewman Jarvis, “I like to get my hands dirty. Unless </span>
  <em>
    <span>you’d </span>
  </em>
  <span>like to try and decipher an alien computer?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No ma’am…” the heavy weapon expert muttered. Jarvis was a relatively new addition to the team, after their combat losses from the team’s first major engagement.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And this is why I don’t gossip before the mission.” Crewman Chang, the fourth member of the team, muttered.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>They stepped up onto the pads, and B'Elanna looked at the transporter operator, “Energize.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>With the familiar buzz and sound like wind chimes, the away team dematerialized.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They rematerialized in the center of the targeted administration building</span>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They immediately swept the area, "clear!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Munro pointed her weapon at the ceiling, aiming her helmet’s lights around. They found themselves in the middle of a voluminous building. It was tall, with seemingly nothing to occupy the space.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The floor had a large insignia, with four diamonds arranged into one larger diamond. One was pink, one blue, one white, and one yellow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a pattern about two meters in height along the perimeter of the wall. Arranged according to each of the diamonds on the floor, four murals were arranged around the chamber. Each displayed a humanoid female form, all matching the color of the diamonds.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They sure like their murals, don’t they?” she muttered. They were huge, and incredibly detailed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It looks like one of the old cathedrals on Earth.” murmured Crewman Chang.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>B'Elanna took out a tricorder, scanning the area. “Torres to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>. We’ve got air pressure in here, but not enough to take our suits off. Looks like someone turned off life support here. We’ll update you as we go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Turning around slowly, her tricorder chirping and beeping, she pointed to the large hatch on the wall opposite. "That looks like...a door."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Airlock?" Someone asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>B'Elanna raised an eyebrow, and chuckled a little nervously, "No, it's an actual door."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That's odd…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tell me about it. Their air pumps are a mess. You could open that door and blow out the entire compartment.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The engineer walked around, adjusting the scanner, "looks like there's a stairway over here..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On the floor perimeter set against the walls was a pattern of rectangular panels, running the entire perimeter of the room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean a stairway?” asked Jarvis.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not yet. Hold on, there’s some sort of pressure plate around here somewhere…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>B'Elanna knelt and started poking one of the panels, looking back and forth between her tricorder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once she found the right spot, the panel B'Elanna was standing on suddenly lifted her forward foot up, with the rest hovering up like a wave, all the way around the room. Each lifted up above the next one, forming a staircase.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Going up, I guess." She muttered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They climbed up the tall voluminous chamber, passing the strange murals, reaching the roof only to find more stairs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They led up into a wide chamber, the diameter of the rest of the building, but with an odd sphere hovering in the dead center. There were stairs further up, but something started chirping unusually on the tricorder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm picking up some weird energy readings," B'Elanna called out, "and it's not coming from the sphere. Get me some light!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Four flashlights winked on, scanning the area...and locking on a target.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There stood a medium sized humanoid figure, who looked like a young woman. She wasn't Terran, that was for sure, her entire body was different shades of blue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>B'Elanna stepped forward, lowering her tricorder with her other hand on her phaser, "I'm Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres of the Federation starship--"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The young woman raised an arm, palm open and up, then clenched her fist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly there was a violent </span>
  <em>
    <span>whoom</span>
  </em>
  <span>!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>B'Elanna's slim EVA pack exploded, the O2 tanks violently rupturing as the water coolant tank was torn open from the </span>
  <em>
    <span>inside</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The lieutenant was blown forward clear across the room and thrown to the floor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To the away team's shock, the water from B'Elanna's pack </span>
  <em>
    <span>hovered in the air</span>
  </em>
  <span> for a brief instant, before forming tendrils that wrapped around her chest. They could hear alarms going off through the slim atmosphere, life support failure of every kind, their own computers alerting them to the lieutenant’s misfortune, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span> demanding to know what was going on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blue woman's expression was narrowed in absolute hatred, "you won't get me!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Take her down!" Munro shouted, but even as they raised their weapons and the words left her mouth, a massive beam of phaser fire cut the woman in half.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She </span>
  <em>
    <span>segmented</span>
  </em>
  <span>, pieces of her going off in different directions, before she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The entire area she’d been standing in was covered in black soot.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>None of the Hazard Team had fired. B'Elanna was on all fours, her phaser raised as she breathed the last of the air in her helmet, thankfully undamaged from the fall. The water tendrils released their grip and lost their form, splashing to the ground beneath her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Already she was shivering and sweating at the same time, her coolant systems destroyed and breathable air compromised. Emergency systems kicked in, shutting down non-essential systems. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Indicator lights on her suit strobed, and loud alarms warbled incessantly, both from a speaker on her suit and on several communication frequencies. They chirped in time with the blinks, one tone high-pitched, the other a tone off, making a very distinct "up and down” sound.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The alarms allowed other Starfleet crew to locate downed personnel, through smoke or in the dark, much like that of 21st century firefighter equipment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Already a signal was being sent to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>, shrieking that a member of the away team was wounded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>B'Elanna felt internal hyposprays inject her with sedative. Starfleet environmental suits were nothing if not well-designed. Their emergency backup systems, capable of withstanding far worse damage than this, could preserve the user’s vital systems for significant periods of time. With no hostile or unknown contacts picked up by the suit’s sensors, and a friendly away team detected, the suit felt it could safely knock B'Elanna out to save what little atmosphere was left. That atmosphere could mean minutes of survival that could be the difference between life and death.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Munro rushed over, “Munro to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Medical emergency! Emergency beam-out directly to sickbay!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Already B'Elanna felt the tingling of a transporter beam. Her suit’s internal computers had already alerted the ship to her status.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Got her…!" She hissed triumphantly, and furrowed her brow at the odd gem the woman had left behind, "Got that...blue...brat…"</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The lieutenant disappeared, and the Hazard Team was left standing around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Munro’s radio crackled with Chakotay’s voice, “Voyager</span>
  <em>
    <span> to Away Team. Status update.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Munro hit her combadge, “Away Team here. Situation under control here, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>. We ran into an unknown humanoid life form. They attacked the lieutenant, and she killed it. She’s been beamed to sickbay. We’re going to need another engineer down here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Understood, we’ll send someone down. Try and figure out what happened, but maintain your position.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Copy that. Away Team out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was...fast.” Chang commented, looking at the place where B'Elanna had disappeared.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you kidding? Lieutenant Torres has that sort of thing happen to her on a regular basis. She’s used to this.” Munro dared to smile a little.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>that?” Chell demanded, the Bolian tightening his grip on his weapon.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She disappeared like a hologram.” Jarvis commented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She was controlling the water! She nearly crushed Lieutenant Torres’ rib cage!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Must’ve been some sort of force field system,” Chang said, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was magic, was what it looked like!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Munro stepped fearlessly into the blackened area, her flashlights piercing the gloom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There wasn’t much left, adding to the hologram theory.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He almost missed a small blue object lying on the ground, covered in soot.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Munro crouched, “Hey, Chell, c’mere for a second. What’s this thing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Chell asked anxiously, turning his own flashlight on it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His anxiety disappeared for a moment, and he crouched, pulling out his tricorder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a blue teardrop-shaped crystal, with odd edges, as if it was meant to be sunken into a container.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It looks like a rock.” Chang said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not just a rock,” Chell exclaimed, “It’s a holographic mobile emitter!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Munro shot to her feet, aiming her rifle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, she’s inactive!” Chell said quickly, “Not even scratched!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s beam it to the ship.” Munro tapped her combadge, “Munro to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Update. We’ve got a holographic module to investigate.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Voyager </span>
  <em>
    <span>to Munro. Understood. We’ll beam it aboard immediately. Maintain your position.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Minutes later, an engineer in a spacesuit, one of engineering’s senior officers, beamed in. She hefted a tool kit, and nodded to Munro, “Lieutenant Nicoletti, reporting.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s just you?” Munro asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How many people do you think we have with xeno engineering experience?” she asked, “Come on, we’re burning O2.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They got to the top of the building, finding a throne-like chamber in an observation dome.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everyone froze at what appeared to be Earth looming above them in the distance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Around them, the well-known silhouette of the Sea of Tranquility lay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Munro felt something catch in her throat, the illusion of the two worlds of her childhood, of green hills and Luna’s bright soil tormenting him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jarvis had grown up on Earth, and visited the moon numerous times, its horizons being what motivated her to join Starfleet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicoletti, a Tau Ceti native, and Chang, another colonist, were still struck by the reflection of the mother world. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chell, not from Sector 001 or Sol, was just disturbed by how empty local space seemed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was strange to not see the glow of the cities on the lunar horizon. Armstrong City should’ve been over that way. They should be able to see the highways from here. There should’ve been more satellites, there should’ve been the defense grids, there should’ve been space stations, not this endless blank void, that desolate landscape the first Apollo astronauts saw.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Where </span>
  <em>
    <span>were</span>
  </em>
  <span> they?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicoletti shook her head, and walked up the throne, studying a smashed console that had been positioned in front of it. Her eyes widened, “Huh?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chell tore his gaze from the view, “What is it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicoletti gestured to the console, “That looks like what I think it looks like, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chell walked up, and his eyes went wide. “That looks like a fist...uh...print.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like someone smashed it with a giant fist." Nicoletti nodded, “What kind of creatures </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> these things?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“More of those holograms, maybe?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Munro walked up to see for himself, “Or just something really strong. Can you get anything out of that console?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicoletti put a mobile power unit on the console, tapping a few controls on her tricorder. Chell went over to the throne and performed a similar procedure.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whoa…” the lieutenant muttered, scrolling through damaged files and computer systems. “I think we hit the motherload!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Got something?” Munro asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicoletti nodded, “Looks like this was the admin building for the whole solar system. We’ve got maps, status reports, documentation, video records, planning…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her eyes went wide again, “oh my god.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She glanced around, a hand on her phaser, “They’re holograms. It wasn’t just that one hostile. They’re an entire species of holograms!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The lieutenant hit her badge, “Away Team to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>! The Gems are holograms, repeat, the Diamond Authority are holograms! We need anti-photon field generators down here </span>
  <em>
    <span>immediately</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Munro hit her badge as well, “Munro to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>. That’s correct. Phasers do work on these ones, but they also appear to be hostile. We need to take precautions.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>XXXXX</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>An image of a planet was displayed on </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> briefing room monitor. It bore little resemblance to the third world from the local sun. This one was hollowed out, with spires jutting up from the core, and three rings around the equator.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...Their plans included eighty-nine manufacturing facilities, sixty-seven skyscrapers of some kind, planetary transporters similar to Sikarian technology servicing most of the planet, and what they describe as ‘efficient use of resources’.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ensign Kim pointed out the details on the map, grimacing as he did so, and turning to look at the rest of the room. Most of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voyager</span>
  </em>
  <span>’s senior staff was in the briefing, with the exception of B'Elanna and the Doctor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lieutenant Paris scoffed, “Yeah, at the cost of an entire M-class planet.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> artificial life forms,” Tuvok pointed out, “it’s quite illogical to believe that they’d value the same resources we would.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s certainly efficient from a resources standpoint,” Seven of Nine said cooly, “The Borg have done similar procedures.” She looked at the monitor, “...but far more effectively. It’s a waste of biological material.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They wouldn’t need the biological material,” Tuvok said.  “The Borg rely on it much more.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kim began again, “They were only able to finish about five percent of their intended structures. They came to...this planet about 6,000 years ago to try and colonize it. According to their records, it was personal property of one of the four Diamonds.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hit a control and displayed an image of one of the murals in the administrative building, of a pink figure.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like King Leopold, if any of you are familiar with that.” Chakotay said. At several blank looks, he added, “The Belgian king in the late 19th century personally owned the Congo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh jeez…” Paris groaned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chakotay gestured to the monitor, “Seems like there were a lot of similarities between that and this situation. There was tremendous abuse of the local population and resources. Gem records describe it was difficult to get the human population under control, and dismantle our-- their cities. There’s reports of disciplinary problems, and then open rebellion. They identified the rebel leader as a significant threat.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kim hit a control, and displayed what looked like a security camera photo of a humanoid individual, with pink hair, a white dress, and a large sword.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They called her Rose Quartz. The Gems have several models, like Ruby, Sapphire, Amethyst, Quartz, that sort of thing, each with a numerical designation. This one was reported to be the leader of the rebellious colonists.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Models?  What, like--machines?” Janeway asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s exactly what they are.  As far as I can tell, each is for different functions, and each occupies a different place in their society.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A caste system?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Definitely not a Federation candidate.” Paris commented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tuvok pointed out, “They </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> manufactured. They may not all be sapient. Therefore, it may not count as a caste system.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But on the other hand, we may not be able to trust their records,” Chakotay pointed out, “We confirmed they were an oppressive autocratic government, with an absolute monarchy at the head. That sort of government won't keep the right kinds of records, at least not in places we can easily access, and we don't know much about their culture. Until we can get more intel, we have no idea if they were drones, or self-aware."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The commander grimaced, “Think about how we treated the Doctor for a while, as well. There’s just no way to be certain yet.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So where’s the colony now?” Janeway asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kim grimaced, “That’s where the records get murky. After a few hundred years fighting the rebellion, the last bit of sensor data they had detected most of their ships leaving, a huge energy reading, then most of their systems went offline.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chakotay put his hands together on the desk, “Engineering analyzed the energy reading. We think it was some kind of extremely powerful anti-photon weapon. It blanketed most of the planet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A hush fell on the room. They knew what anti-photon weapons could do. Some could disable a holographic program, while other more powerful weapons could completely destroy them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So they couldn’t hold the planet, so they decided to just...what? Drop a WMD on it?” Paris asked, horrified.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chakotay shook his head, “That wasn’t exactly the reason. Apparently, the Diamond here, Pink Diamond, was killed by Rose Quartz. The Gems are extremely durable, and their physical forms can be destroyed without any adverse side-effects. But they can be destroyed permanently by destroying their emitters. They’re obsessed with efficient use of resources, and are capable of reprogramming rogue Gems at will. We believe this is why they try to use melee weapons whenever possible, so they can recover the enemy’s resources. So, destruction of one of their emitters is a high crime. Worse than that, being an absolute monarchy, when she killed one of their leaders, well…” he gestured to the window, and the planet in the distance. "...we all know what kind of extreme reactions those kinds of people can have."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, great! Even better!” Paris said, throwing up his hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Were they the ones who brought the human population here?” Janeway asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We don’t think so. The humans were already here, at least six-thousand years.” Kim replied, “we can’t find any obvious traces of who brought them here, so…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked a bit crestfallen, “we have no idea what technology they used.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The others made their own displeased expressions.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If the planet was hit with an anti-photonic weapon, how did the one we have in custody survive?” Seven of Nine asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kim tapped the monitor, and blurry helmet camera footage of the blue being appeared. B'Elanna in a spacesuit appeared in the foreground. The being raised an arm, and B'Elanna’s pack exploded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They could hear shouted orders, some minor sounds, the being speaking, and saw the maximum phaser blast that hit her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The footage looped, and Paris’ fists clenched.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That we can’t figure out,” Chakotay replied to Seven, “They weren’t on any of the records we found, they weren’t part of the Diamond entourage. They’re a Lapis Lazuli model, designed for terraforming. They shouldn’t have been anywhere near that facility, but they do have the capability of interplanetary flight…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That still doesn’t explain how they survived.” Tuvok commented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe she was from a ship that passed nearby,” Paris suggested, “Got destroyed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s nothing on sensors even remotely new,” Kim replied, “There’s been nothing here for hundreds of years.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She said ‘you won’t get me’,” Janeway said, putting her hands together in front of her chin, “I wonder if she’s a refugee.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Perhaps.” Seven of Nine said, “Or, considering the Diamond Authority’s past experience, the weapon was inefficient and did not destroy all of them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Janeway nodded, “Have we detected any more photonic activity?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The Gems have a different signature than the Doctor, and a lot of known holographic systems," Kim replied, "We can detect subspace activity from their remaining structures, but we can’t tell if any of them are down there. They use hard-light instead of force fields and holograms. We think that’s how they’re able to be affected by phasers, unlike holograms. They can take damage, but it can take a lot of power to bring them down. It also means we can't track them properly without more data.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I recommend we question the Gem we have in custody before we attempt to explore the surface,” Tuvok said, “it is still a pre-warp planet.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Does the Prime Directive really work here?” Paris asked, “They’re humans. We didn’t have any problems with Amelia Earhart.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Scans haven’t shown any official knowledge about the Gems, or at least in the terminology they used,” Kim said, “We picked up a few conspiracy theorists, like we usually do, but we’re still sifting through a lot of it. We’re checking government transmissions, but they’re a bit of a mess.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“More similarities between our 21st century and theirs.” Chakotay said with a small smile, “The military-industrial complex bureaucracy was notoriously overly-complex.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So we’re going to have to tread lightly then,” Janeway said, “We’re in complex territory on the Prime Directive. Every time a lost human colony has been found we’ve had these sorts of debates. The 37s planet knew about where they came from, but we don’t know if these people do, or even if they were picked up from Earth in the first place. But these Gems may have technology we can use to get home, and they’re interfering with the natural development of a planet. We need more information.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stood up, “Tuvok, when the Doctor gets a moment, I want you two to try and talk with the Gem we have in custody. Get engineering to help revive them. The rest of your orders are unchanged. Let’s figure out what we’re doing here.”</span>
</p>
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